


Pink on the Lips of Your Lover

by harryswhale



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-13
Updated: 2015-10-13
Packaged: 2018-04-26 03:47:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4989046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harryswhale/pseuds/harryswhale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry wants to dye his hair pink. Louis just wants him to be happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pink on the Lips of Your Lover

They’re in some sticky-hot Midwest city – Detroit maybe, or Cleveland – at a meet and greet for Make a Wish. There’s a mom shuffling in a little girl, who’s pressed into her side and staring wide-eyed at the four of them all huddled together. Harry steps forward and crouches down in front of her. She’s tiny, with giant eyes and a mop of brown curly hair down just past her shoulders. It’s dyed hot pink at the ends, loopy pink curls brushing her chin. She just stares at Harry and leans in closer to her mom. Harry smiles widely at her. “Hi, I’m Harry. What’s your name?”

She starts, jumping just a bit like she didn’t think he would actually say anything. Her voice is shaky when she says, “Jamie.”

“Hi there, Jamie, I like your hair.”

Her eyes bug out a little and she bursts into a massive, toothy grin. “It’s curly like yours!”

He laughs, “Yes, yes it is. But yours is all pink and lovely like mine couldn’t be.”

“Why not?” the girl asks, pulling a little away from her mother and leaning towards him.

“Well, I mean it could be.” He runs a hand through his hair, pushing it off his face. “We’d be matching!”

She giggles at that, covering her smile with two little hands. She tugs at her mother’s pant leg. “Mommy, did you hear that? If Harry made his hair pink we’d be matching!”

The mother laughs, smiling down at the two of them. “That would be precious, sweetie.”

“Do you want a hug, Jamie?” Harry asks.

“Yes!” she squeals, rushing towards him. He bundles her up in his arms, letting her press her little head into his shoulder.

When she lets go a little, he asks “Want to go see the other boys?”

She nods eagerly, and he stands up and grabs her hand to lead her over to the others. Louis is poking Liam while Niall laughs on, but his head whips up when he notices Harry and Jamie.

“What’s your name, love?” Louis asks when Harry reaches them, crouching down in front of her. Harry feels his chest ache at his soft voice, the one he only uses for little kids.

“Jamie. Hi, Louis!”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Jamie.” Louis grins so hard his eyes crinkle.

The rest of the boys greet her and her smiles grows bigger and bigger. Harry loves meeting the shy ones. They always start out so timid and hold themselves back, but they’re always so happy and loud when they get used to the boys’ attention on them. Jamie is a sweetheart, twirling her skirt around and asking the boys a million questions. They stay with her as long as they can before their team shuffles her out so they can let the next girl get her turn.

 

-

 

As soon as they make it back to their hotel room, Louis drags him into the shower. “Let’s get these off you, baby,” he breathes into Harry’s neck as his hands drag down his stomach to the waistline of his jeans, pressing him against the counter.

Harry’s not sure how even after four years, Louis still gets him hard so fast. It’s something about the way he treats him, like Harry’s both his princess and his dirty sex thing all at once – how one second he’ll be whispering about how good he is into his ear and the next he’s got him pulled over his knee. He’s so quick, so dirty and hot all the time, and even after all this time he still has Harry as whipped as he was on day one.

Louis has him naked in seconds, almost ripping the lace of Harry’s panties, and he takes his own clothes off even quicker. He turns the water on hot and pulls Harry in by the hand. Harry’s back hits the wall hard as Louis pushes him. “Okay, love?” Louis asks as he kisses down his neck.

Harry lets out a breathy yes, and Louis grins up at him. “Been thinking about this all day. Feels like forever since we’ve had time to do this.” He bites at the spot on his neck that always makes Harry’s mind blank just a bit, pulling a groan out of his boy.

“Lou,” Harry whimpers.

“Mmm,” Louis hums back. “Gonna wash you up and ride you right here. You’ve bulked up so much lately, love, wanna have you hold me up against this wall.”

Harry moans high in his throat, mind a whirl of _Louislouislouis_. Louis grabs the shampoo and massages it into Harry’s locks, pulling his head down just enough so he doesn’t have to stand on his tiptoes. He uses conditioner, too, when he’s washed out all the shampoo, running his hands through his ends to make them all soft the way they both like. He leaves it in while he massages their fruity body soap down Harry’s arms and stomach, kissing the butterfly and laurels as he goes. He bends to get his legs, carefully skirting around his fattening cock. Harry’s lost in the feeling of Louis’ hands all over him, massaging deep into his muscles like he knows he likes. “Feels good, baby?” Louis asks, chuckling a little as he straightens up and finally washes the conditioner out.

Harry nods, eyeing him up and down. “Want me to do you?”

“Yeah, I want you to do me,” Louis smirks.

Harry snorts. “You’re not funny.”

“You love me, sweetie.”

Harry just shakes his head and washes Louis’ hair. A little bit of conditioner for him, with how it’s grown out. Getting to wash Louis’ body is always like a religious experience for him. Louis makes him fucking crazy, with his soft, soft golden skin and perfect curves and bum and thighs. Harry loves his thighs. They’re so thick, and Harry always remembers how strong they looked when Louis fucked him that own time they took a risk and videotaped themselves. That tape stays tucked away on a CD in their bedroom, saved for when one of them is left alone for the night. Now, he can feel his cock twitching as he runs his hands down Louis’ thighs, getting them nice and clean as he sits on his knees.

Harry grabs their shower lube and coats his fingers in the clear substance. He moves behind Louis, stretching his cheeks apart to get at his hole. He carefully sinks one finger in and Louis lets out a moan from above him. He’s braced against the wall now, arms crossed above his head. “More, love,” he breathes.

Harry nods to himself and pushes in another, scissoring them. He presses up against Louis’ prostrate, making his boy gasp into the wall. He goes on for a bit, making sure Louis is loose and ready for him. After a while, Louis chokes out, “I’m good, I’m good.”

Harry stands up and Louis turns around to face him. “How do I do this, Lou?”

Louis grins and tugs at the one of his wet curls. Harry is submissive even when Louis is bottoming. “Lift me up against this wall, so my back’s to it.”

Harry nods and follows Louis’ instructions. Louis is surprisingly light for how thick and curvy he is, so he’s able to press him up against the wall easily. Louis wraps his legs around Harry’s little waist and asks, “Think you can hold me up with one arm so you can get yourself in?”

Harry grunts, carefully rebalancing Louis to one arm and holding his cock in his other. It takes a few tries, but eventually he’s able to sink the tip into Louis. He’s about to go further when Louis instructs, “Stop, H. Remember, I’m riding you.”

Harry nods, pressing his forehead to Louis’ shoulder. He feels Louis shift in his arms, somehow using his legs to let himself sink further down onto Harry’s cock. Harry holds his breath until Louis is fully seated on him, then lets out a long breathy moan into his warm skin. “Lou…”

“Feels great, love. Push me up a little?” Louis breathes out as Harry helps him lift himself up on his cock. Harry opens his eyes and groans at Louis’ thighs straining around him, squeezing his waist like a vice. “Alright, baby?” Louis teases him.

“Yes, oh god yes, Lou.” His arms are straining a little to hold Louis up, and he readjusts a bit.

“Gonna keep going now, think you can get the movement down?” Louis bites softly at Harry’s arm. He nods and Louis sinks down again, Harry letting him fall down in his arms. They fall into a rhythm soon, working together to get Louis sliding up and down Harry’s cock smoothly. Harry keeps letting out little noises, pressing his mouth into Louis’ neck. And it’s good, so good that Harry feels like his whole world is here bouncing on his cock and nothing else matters, nothing else even exists.

“So good for me, baby, you’re doing so well,” Louis coos in his ear. “Your arms look so good like this.”

Harry grunts. He’s close, he’s so, so close but he doesn’t want to come until Louis says he can. His rhythm starts to shake and he can feel his orgasm right there, so close that if he just moved in a certain way he’d get there. Louis teases him, “You’re close, baby? Real close?”

Harry whines so high his throat feels rough. Louis keeps going for a bit, making Harry’s mind blank out a bit.

Finally, Louis lets up. “You can come, baby.”

Harry keens high in his throat, burying himself fully in Louis as he falls over the edge, mind completely blank with how good it is. He can feel Louis come, too, clenching tight around him and letting out a soft yelp.

_Fuck._

Louis brushes Harry’s wet hair out of his eyes after he pulls out and sets him down. He pulls him into a hug, wrapping his arms around him and pressing his cheek to one of the birds on Harry’s chest. “You did so well, baby. So good.”

Louis hugs him for a while before he leads him out of the shower, pulling him along because he can tell Harry’s too fucked out to leave otherwise. Harry grins at him as he wraps them both in towels and takes him to bed. “Want pajamas, baby?” Louis asks.

Harry shakes his head and Louis pulls him onto the bed and under the sheets. Louis’ arms are so strong and warm around him, pulling his back to his chest. There’s nothing better than falling asleep like this, with Louis wrapped around him keeping him safe and loved.

 

 

Harry wakes up sometime after the sun’s just come up, light streaming in from under the curtain. Louis is propped up on the pillows, scrolling through his phone. Probably Twitter or Instagram, although Harry’s still pretty sure Louis still doesn’t get the point of Instagram or even how to use it properly.

Louis glances over. “Morning, baby.”

Harry mumbles something out, rolling over to rest his head on Louis’ shoulder. “Why are you up so early?”

“Woke up to pee and couldn’t get back to sleep.” He presses a kiss to Harry’s head. “There’s a video from the meet and greet yesterday and you’ve made some of the fans go crazy.”

“Hmm, what did I do?” Harry yawns.

“You made that pink hair comment to that little girl, Jamie, and I guess someone made this edit of you with pink hair, and now it’s everywhere.” Louis strokes a hand down Harry’s arm.

“What?” Harry sits up a bit. “Show me.”

Louis scrolls for a second and hands Harry his phone. And, well, there’s an edit of Harry from some concert with the ends of his hair dyed hot pink. It goes up almost halfway up, brightest at the tips and fading out to his normal brown. Harry’s breath hitches in his throat. “There’s more?”

Louis nods, taking his phone back and scrolling again. “Here, there’s three more in a row.”

They’re all concert photos of him shaking his hair out, hot pink locks caught flying through the air. They’re all against mostly black backgrounds, with Harry himself in mostly black, so the pink looks so bright and loud against the darkness. Harry can’t stop looking at it, scrolling between the three photos.

He doesn’t realize he’s zoned out on one where the pink locks are almost upright from a hair flip until Louis nudges him, “H? You okay?”

He hands the phone back. “Yeah, I uh, good. That’s, um, that’s nice.”

Louis narrows his eyes at him, cocking his head a little to the side. “Does it bother you?”

“No!” Harry barks out. He feels funny all over, like someone’s pressed pause on everything or something. His head is buzzing just a little.

Louis squeezes his arm, eyes trained on him. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, sorry.” He pauses, nodding. “Yes.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I – there’s nothing to talk about, Lou.” He tries his best to smile at him. He’s pretty sure his whole world just flipped momentarily, turning him up over onto his head.

Louis smiles softly at him, eyes clearly worried. “Okay, baby. Wanna go back to sleep?”

Harry nods, rolling onto his side so Louis can wrap himself around him again. He shudders just a bit when Louis presses a kiss to his neck, whispering, “I love you.”

 

 

-

 

It’s not a thing after that. It’s not.

It’s just, the edits are everywhere. If he doesn’t see them on Twitter or gets tagged in them on Instagram, he’s thinking about them. He can’t get the image out of his head. He’s so scared to mention it, to even think about it, and it’s driving him crazy. Louis knows something is up, but by now they both know Harry needs time to steep over things sometimes, to gather his thoughts before he shares them with Louis. So he kisses him extra gentle and tugs on his hair just a little harder.

Harry’s babysitting Lux at the venue while Lou is off with Lottie running errands. Lux is painting his nails a dark red color, humming some pop song. She always insists on letting her paint them and he’s never complained, although Gemma is a lot better at it than her. He always has to subtly clean it up when little Lux is done.

Niall plops down on the sofa next to him, making Lux start and make a streak up his finger. “Sorry, H,” she pouts.

“Aw, its ok, Luxie.” Harry kisses the top of her head. “We can clean it up later.”

Niall peers over Harry’s shoulder to look at the nails. “Those look great, Lux.”

“Thank you, Uncle Ni!” Lux grins at him toothily before going back to her work.

Niall shoves his phone in Harry’s face. “Did you see this?” Harry moves his head back to focus better, and it’s one of the pink hair edits.

He feels his cheeks heating up and he focuses his eyes on his nails. “Yeah, I did,” he answers slowly, making sure his voice is still even.

“Looks sick, mate. You look like a proper rockstar. Remember when I had my hair purple for 1D Day?” Niall takes the phone back.

Harry stills before glancing up at him. “You think?”

“Think what?”

“That it’s sick,” Harry says lowly, trying to keep his eyes on his nails again.

Niall nods enthusiastically. “Yeah, mate! It’s very you, you know?”

“Done!” Lux interrupts, pulling Harry’s hands up to show the nails off.

“They look great, Lux, thank you.” Harry beams at her.

Niall gives her a thumbs up. “Following in mum’s footsteps already. Aw man, that reminds me I found this cat video you’d love. Here!” He gives Harry his phone again.

They’re there for almost an hour watching YouTube videos with Lux before Louis and Liam come in. “Hi, hun,” Louis greets, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. He turns to Lux, “Did you do Uncle Knobhead’s nails again, Lux?”

She giggles, lifting Harry’s hands again. “Yes! Do you like them, Uncle Lou?”

Louis smiles widely, eyes crinkling a little and making Harry’s heart leap. “They’re beautiful, Lux. You made Harry even prettier.” He sits next to Lux and leans over to pinch Harry’s cheek. “Should teach me your technique sometime.”

“It’s very easy,” she says, eyes wide. “It took me two seconds to learn!”

“Well, I might need a little longer. I’m not quite as clever as you,” Louis says.

Lux frowns exaggeratedly. “I think you’re very clever.”

Louis chuckles, ruffling her pigtails a little. “Thank you, Luxie. I’m sure I’ll learn quick with a teacher as good as you.”

Niall pokes Harry in the side, bobbing his head towards Louis and Lux. “You know, I thought that you’d lose the frog face after all this time but it’s still just as strong.”

 

 

Someone has one of the photos on a sign tonight. Harry doesn’t notice it until Liam’s doing his usual sign reading. He’s waving at a little boy by him when Liam reads off, “’Harry, go pink’! Hey, Harry!”

Harry turns around so fast, eyes fixing quickly on where Liam’s pointing. It’s a new photo, not a concert one this time. And that’s probably more painful, seeing how it looks when he’s just meeting fans, away from his persona onstage. “What do you think, Harry?” Liam teases, walking over to poke at his hair.

Harry smiles at him, trying to play it off. He’s got that funny feeling all over his body again, that sort of tingling through his legs and arms and chest. “Maybe, Liam, maybe.”

Liam pats his shoulder and moves on. “There you have it, folks! Keep an eye on Mr. Styles here!”

Harry tries to put it out of his head for the rest of the concert, but he keeps finding himself gravitating over towards the girl’s sign. She seems to notice, yelling even louder every time he passes by and pointing at the sign enthusiastically. Louis catches on, too, watching him curiously the rest of the night. It’s overwhelming, sometimes, knowing that Louis is always keeping an eye on him and they orbit around each other like planets. And he’ll definitely know something’s up with him. He’s gotten so good at reading Harry over the years.

As soon as the concert’s over, Louis pulls him aside, wrapping him in a hug so he can whisper in his ear without the others getting worried. “Okay, baby?”

Harry nods into his shoulder. “Just, just a little overwhelmed. Excited to go home tonight.”

“Me too. Everything was okay onstage tonight?”

Harry breathes shakily. “Yeah, I think so. Can we talk about this, later?”

Louis pulls back a little and tugs gently at a curl. “Sure, baby.”

 

-

 

It turns out letting Louis handling the house matters was a bad idea. After their red-eye and zooming through a very dark, early morning London, they come home to a house with absolutely no food. Harry insists on keeping only fresh stuff around at home, for health reasons, and Louis had forgotten to send a grocery list for their manager to arrange for them.

Luckily, their usual Tesco’s only just closed and Paul’s able to call to get it to stay open just a little longer just for the two of them. Popstar privilege.

They’re both dressed down in joggers and hoodies, strolling through the fresh stuff. “H, do we really need all these vegetables. It seems a little extreme,” Louis whines.

“Yes, Lou.” Harry rolls his eyes. “You need to not eat so much junk food.”

“I’m just gonna go out and eat it when you’re not around,” Louis teases.

Harry pouts at him. “I work so hard to cook for you and—“

Louis reaches up on tiptoe to kiss him quick on the lips. “And I appreciate it very, very much, sweetheart. But how am I gonna keep this arse thick for you if you have me eating rabbit food?” He shakes his hips, smirking up at him.

Harry bites his lip. “I hate you.”

“You can hate me but you can’t hate this.” Louis grabs his hand and brings it around to his arse. Harry’s stomach twists at how soft and round it feels. “See? I think we should get stuff for cheeseburgers tomorrow. Gotta keep this arse thick for my love.” He winks.

Harry pulls his hand away, pushing the cart along. “We’re in public, Lou.”

Louis rolls his eyes. “No one else is in here except the cashier and Paul at the front. We could fuck right next to this spinach and be fine.”

Harry frowns at him. “Don’t tempt me.”

Louis laughs, “Got a vegetable kink, baby?”

“Shut up,” Harry giggles, pressing a hand to his mouth. “We’re getting spinach just because of that comment.”

Louis groans exaggeratedly, “ _Fine.”_

They go around the whole store, picking up all the stuff Harry is sure they don’t have. He goes down the list he wrote on his phone, checking off everything. “Aw, Lou, we forgot milk. Will you go pick it up, please?”

Louis kisses him on the cheek. “Back in a second.”

Harry picks out his favorite yogurt before he turns around and _oh._ They’re right by the hair aisle. Harry feels himself moving down the aisle, pushing the cart along until he reaches all the hair dye. And there’s some right there – hot pink hair dye. The woman on the front has bright pink hair and is smirking at the camera. Harry can’t stop staring at her, can’t stop staring at her pink hair framing her pale face.

He must have been standing there for a while because suddenly Louis is asking, “Harry?”

Louis is next to him, staring at him with soft, soft eyes. Harry blinks slowly. The funny feeling is back again, except it’s even stronger now. “Harry?” Louis tries again.

“Sorry, Lou.”

“What are you sorry for? Are you okay?” He asks, stepping forward and taking Harry’s hand. “Why are you down—oh.” He stills, pieces clearly clicking into place. He looks at the dye on the shelf right in front of him. “This is about the hair thing.”

Harry feels his whole face flush and he stares down at his worn out Converse. Louis always loves when he wears them, even it isn’t often. It reminds him of simpler times.

“Baby, it’s okay.” Louis brushes hair out of his face. “I’m not judging you or anything. It’s okay if you want to do it.”

Harry stares at him, wide-eyed. He’s so fucking relieved Louis isn’t going to make him say it first. He’s so happy to have the best boyfriend he could ask for, someone that knows how he feels when he doesn’t, and someone who knows when he needs to push him.

“You’re not going to think it’s weird?” Harry asks softly.

Louis squeezes his hand. “No, baby. I want you to do anything in this world that makes you happy.”

Harry steps forward hesitantly and grabs the box from the shelf. He stares down at it. “Maybe I’ll just buy it but not do it yet, or ever. Just to have the option.”

“Sure, baby.” Louis smiles at him. “I think you would look absolutely lovely with it.”

Harry’s quiet for the rest of their trip, but Louis fills up the silence with his trademark happy chatter. And when they get home, he takes Harry straight to bed and insists he lets him put all the groceries away himself. Harry’s asleep by the time his head hits the pillow.

 

-

 

The box sits on the bathroom counter for a few days. Harry freezes and stares every time he sees it. He’s not sure how he feels about it. He knows his heart is aching to do it but there’s something holding him back, giving him an almost sick feeling.

Neither boy brings it up, focusing instead on sleeping long hours and making time to see their friends and family and come home to tangle up in bed together. They’ve saved a night in the middle of the week just for the two of them. Louis is in charge of shopping for everything and then helping Harry cook if he needs it, as well as setting the table up nicely the way Harry likes it.

Harry’s getting out all the dishes and ingredients they have when Louis gets home. He brushes into the kitchen with the bags and kisses Harry on the cheek. “Need any help, love?”

Harry kisses him back with a greeting and rattles off some quick instructions, nothing too complicated for Louis, who’s never been one for cooking. Harry sets to cooking, turning up the radio. The two of them bounce around the room, singing and dancing together while they work on the meal, Harry giving Louis as many little tasks as he can, until Louis gets tired and sits up on the counter pinching Harry’s bum when he walks by. When the final dish is set in the oven, Harry kisses Louis before he leaves the room and says, “Gonna go get dressed up, okay?”

Harry’s been planning this all week. There’s nothing he loves more than getting dressed up at home, letting himself do whatever he likes. He’s got his outfit all planned out, and he’s even pulling out the little makeup kit Gemma bought him for Christmas. He pulls out the outfit he’s carefully tucked away in the closet so Louis wouldn’t find it and shimmies into the black sheer button-down. He hums happily as he pulls the dark red skater skirt up over his hips to sit on his waist, tucking the button-down into it. It’s short, only hanging a few inches below his bum. He pulls the soft silk panties up his legs and sits on the bed to pull up the sheer black garters. He’s forgoing shoes, tonight, as they’re staying inside.

He pulls out the makeup kit and carefully puts on a little bit of eyeliner, winging just a little, the way Gemma taught him. He does mascara next, then blush, and finally his favorite cherry lipstain, the one that paints his mouth all red the way Louis goes crazy for. There’s something about the way he looks all done up that Harry loves, that makes him smile just a little harder and act extra cuddly with Louis. He loves the way he looks softer somehow and his features pop. He even gives himself a spritz of the perfume he likes. Now, he just has to ask Louis to do the final part for him. He pokes his head out the door and calls, “Hey, Lou?”

“Yeah, baby?” he calls back.

“Can you help me with something really quick up here?”

“One sec!” Harry swears he hears a crash from downstairs and he winces before Louis appears on the stairs. He freezes when he sees him, one foot still stuck on the stair below him. His mouth is dropped open a little, like he can’t form words.

Harry’s giggle draws him out of his stupor. He stutters, “Wow, um, _fuck._ You look really, really fucking good.”

Harry does a little twirl, skirt flying out a bit. He’s pretty sure he can see his panties and everything. “You like it?”

Louis steps up the stairs all the way, still eyeing up and down Harry’s body. “I really, _really_ like it. Fuck.”

Harry smiles, leaning in a little closer. “Can you help me with one more part?” Louis nods wordlessly. “Braid my hair for me?”

Louis bites his lip, eyes fixed on Harry’s. When they braid Harry’s hair, it’s usually a sex thing because Harry doesn’t feel comfortable wearing it out of the house yet, save for that one time on stage. He’ll wear it around the house all day, and then the sex is always extra good. Louis gets to pull at it, making Harry whine and moan as he gets bounced on Louis’ cock or fucked doggy style. Sometimes Louis even tugs it when he spanks him, which they almost never get the chance to do it.

Louis nods and pulls Harry inside the room. Harry sits on the edge of the bed, like always, and Louis sits up behind him. “French?” Louis asks.

Harry nods, and Louis starts running his hand through the curls. It’s much easier to braid now with how much it’s grown. It wouldn’t take him long to do it, but he always stretched out the process a bit for Harry, who loves the feeling of Louis’s fingers working through his curls. He hums lowly under his breath now as Louis braids, and Louis picks up on it, singing along softly.

He ties the braid off when it’s all done, soft to the touch and so, so pretty on his boy. He nudges them both off the bed, turning Harry around. “Looks perfect, baby. You look perfect.”

They go downstairs together, and Louis moves Harry into the kitchen. “Plate the food for me so I can bring it out?”

Harry nods, quickly getting everything set for him. Louis takes everything out, then turns to him. “Give me five minutes to finish everything, and I’ll call you out?”

He runs out. Harry scrolls through Instagram until Louis finally calls from the dining room. It’s all lowly lit, a million candles lighting everything up, and there’s a bouquet of roses between all the nice china that Louis’ dragged out of the cupboards. Harry smiles so hard he covers up his mouth with one hand.

And Louis looks fucking fantastic. He’s got his hands behind his back, collarbones popping out of the red scoop neck. He’s got on his nice black skinnies and the shiny black shoes Harry likes. He looks like a wet dream, like everything Harry wants, everything he could ever want. He’s perfect. Harry murmurs hotly, “You look good.”

Louis raises an eyebrow. “Just good?”

Harry leans in to kiss him. “Fucking gorgeous.”

Louis kisses him back before pulling gently away. “We have to eat all this food, baby. Spent so long making it.”

“It looks so nice, Lou. Thank you so much.”

“Mutual effort.” Louis grins.

They sit down and serve themselves, stuffing themselves on the delicious food they’ve made together. The wine and laughter flows freely until finally they both sit back, having eaten almost all of it. Harry’s had so much wine, and he stands up and moves around the table to sit on Louis’ lap.

“You did such a good job, Lou,” he says, hitching his legs on either side of him.

“Mmm,” Louis hums, running a hand down his waist. “Would’ve been nothing without you.”

“Shush,” Harry teases.

Louis grins and kisses at his neck, pulling the boy closer. “What do you wanna do tonight, baby?”

Harry pulls back, cheeks hot. “Will you spank me? Just a little, we never get to do it anymore.”

Louis nods. “Anything else?”

“Fuck me? What do you want?”

“I love spanking you and I love fucking you, and I want to tug at your braid until you come all over me.”

Harry’s breath hitches. “ _Fuck.”_

Louis smirks. “Up then, love, let’s get to it.”

They make their way to their bedroom, and Louis sits down on the bed, pulling Harry down next to him. Louis kisses him and Harry gets lost in the heat of it, leaning back on the bed. Louis pulls away, murmuring into his cheek, “Color system, yeah?” Harry nods. “How many do you want?”

Harry scrunches up his nose. “Twenty? Unless I want more.” He knows he could take more, has taken much more, but he’s eager for Louis to fuck him, too.

Louis nods, giving him one last kiss. “Over my lap, baby.”

Heat pools in Harry’s stomach as he scrambles into position. His mind is already fuzzy and he feels hot all over. Louis lifts his skirt up, bunching it up around his waist, and pulls his panties down under his bum. He cups Harry’s bum and squeezes at the soft skin. Harry whimpers, already anticipating the first smack.

It’s still unexpected when Louis lands the first spank. Harry jolts and whimpers high in his throat. Louis pets his bum again, gently. “Okay, baby?”

“Yes, _yes,_ Lou. Please, more.”

“Will you count them for me, sweetie?”

Harry nods frantically and Louis smacks him again. “Two,” he chokes out.

Three, four, and five come in quick succession, Harry moaning out each. Louis pauses, running his fingers lightly down his bum and thighs. “You’re doing so good, baby,” Louis says.

Harry whimpers and arches his bum higher, asking for more. Louis switches to the next cheek for six, seven, and eight. Harry feels so hot all over, the pain mixing with the heat and making him crazy. He doesn’t notice himself wriggling until Louis spanks him again even harder and says, “Stop it, baby. Be a good boy for me and stay still.” Harry moans lower. Louis tugs at his braid. “Count.”

“Nine,” Harry moans. Louis tugs harder at the braid and spanks him again, this time almost by the spot where his thigh meets his arse. He pulls hard at the braid in time for ten and eleven. It hurts but it makes him feel so good all over, so good that he feels like he’s barely even a part of his body anymore.

“Color?” Louis asks.

“Green,” Harry chokes out. “More, please.”

Louis pulls at the braid and complies, landing twelve and thirteen. “Doing so good, baby. You should see how red it is. Looks fucking incredible.” Louis spreads his cheeks, ghosting a finger over his hole. “Can’t wait to fuck you, baby.” He spanks the inside of the cheek, making Harry gasp. He loves how Louis knows how much he likes it spread out, so he can feel it all over the next day.

Louis lets his cheeks go and spanks down twice times in a row, tugging at the braid once each time, making Harry kick his feet up and let out a choked gasp. “Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, Lou!”

“So close, baby,” Louis breathes out. Nineteen comes hard and Louis pets at his bum after, squeezing one of his cheeks in his hand. “So close.”

He teases Harry, stroking his thighs and pinching at his bum. He presses a kiss to the red-hot skin before landing the final spank, pulling at the braid so hard Harry yelps. “Twenty!” he cries.

Louis pulls him upright in his lap, kissing him deeply. Harry’s head is spinning from it all, he feels like he’s floating above his body. “Good, baby?” Louis asks.

“So good, Lou,” Harry whimpers into his neck. “Felt so good. Thank you.”

“All for you, baby. Do you wanna see how red it is?”

Harry nods, and Louis pulls him up over to the mirror. He twists around to see it, letting out a gasp at how angry red it is and how perfectly Louis’ handprints are outlined in spots. “Lou,” he whimpers. The skin feels so hot to the touch. “Will you fuck me now?”

Louis squeezes his hand. “Sure you’re ready, love?”

Harry nods, “Please, Lou.”

Louis presses a kiss to his temple. “Okay, baby. Hands and knees on the bed. Clothes off. Keep the skirt.”

Harry complies, scrabbling out of his clothes, save the skirt, and moving up to the middle of the bed. Louis takes his clothes off, too. He presses a kiss to both burning cheeks and spreads them, teasing a wet finger around his hole. He presses in slowly, making Harry bury his head in his arms. “Good?” Louis asks.

“Yes. More, please?”

“Of course, baby.” He presses in another and scissors them, eventually adding a third after Harry begs. Finally, Harry moans that he’s ready and Louis rolls on the condom. He presses in slowly, making Harry let out a long, deep groan at the heat. Louis fills him up so well. He gives him a minute to adjust before pulling out again and snapping back in.

Louis reaches up to pull at the braid, making Harry cry out. He keeps pulling at it as he fucks into him. Harry yelps as he hits his prostrate, mind going completely blank at the pressure. His cheeks ache from the spanking as Louis pounds against them. He’s fucking him so hard and so deep, tugging at the braid again and again and making his head spin pleasantly.

“Close, princess?” Louis asks.

Harry nods eagerly. “So close, Lou. So close.”

“Come for me?”

Harry keens loudly as Louis times hitting his prostate hard while tugging his braid, coming all over the bed beneath them. Louis comes, letting out a cry of Harry’s name. He pulls out and collapses on top next to him, pulling his boy into his arms.

“Did so good, baby. So good all night,” he says.

Harry presses back into him. He’s coming down from his high slowly, mind starting to clear again. “Thank you, Lou. For the whole night.”

Louis kisses the back of his neck. “No, thank you, baby. Your idea.” He pets at the braid. “The braid still looks nice, even though I’m pretty sure I almost pulled it all out of your head,” he says with a laugh.

Harry giggles, and rolls over a bit to look at him. “Do you think it’ll still look nice braided if it was pink?”

Louis’ eyes widen, probably surprised that Harry is mentioning the unmentionable. “Of course it would look good. It would look fantastic.”

Harry grins at him, sleepiness making his eyes feel heavy. “Okay, because I think I’m gonna ask Lou about it, and Gemma. ‘Cause I want you to dye it but I wanna make sure we do it right.”

“You really wanna do it, baby?”

Harry nods, rolling back to press his back into Louis’ chest. He yawns, “Yeah, I really wanna.”

Louis hugs him tighter. “Well, I’ll be here every step of the way, sweetheart.”

 

-

 

“Do you ever do, like, dip dyed hair?”

Lou pauses, comb still stuck in Harry’s hair. “’Course I do. I work for Bleach London, after all.” She draws the comb out and picks up the blow dryer to tackle the roots again.

Harry hums, staring down at his hands. “How easy is it, to do that?”

“To do what?”

“Dip dye.”

She shrugs. “Not hard at all. Sometimes it lends you a little more creativity, too, ‘cause girls will go more all out on just the ends of their hair.”

“What if you just do one color?”

“That’s really easy. Especially ‘cause maintenance is so much easier for that, you don’t have to worry about maintaining your whole head.” She picks up the light curl cream Harry likes, coating her hands in it.

“So, you could do it at home?”

She wrinkles her nose and gives him a confused look before working her hands through his curls. “I guess you could. What is this about, anyway?”

“I…” Harry pauses, trying to figure out the best way to say it. “Just curious about it, after seeing all those, uh, edits of me with the pink.”

She snorts. “Those were so weird. I don’t get why the fans always want you to do this weird stuff to your hair. Braids, space buns, now this. You’re supposed to be masculine. It’s so weird.”

Harry stills, breath going stale in his throat and chest freezing up. He’s stuck on the word _weird,_ on the phrase _supposed to_. What would she think if she knew what he’s like at home, or how lovely he thinks the pink is? She’d probably quit on the spot. He’s so lost in sudden panic that he doesn’t even realize she’s finished up. He mumbles a goodbye and stands to leave. His body feels weak, both too light and too heavy to move without feeling like he’s underwater. His legs feel ice cold. Somehow he makes it to his and Louis’ dressing room, falling down on one of the couches and wrapping his arms around himself.

Louis isn’t there, probably off bothering Niall or stealing Liam’s phone to text Sophia rude things. He knows he shouldn’t be so sensitive, knows Lou’s words shouldn’t make him feel like he’s sixteen and back in the X Factor house about to vomit before a performance. But the words dig under his skin. He thought she would be supportive.

He shouldn’t do it. He knows he really, really shouldn’t. Louis and him promised not to do it years ago, unless they were together or they knew there would be something good. But Louis isn’t there. So, he pulls out his phone and googles ‘Harry Styles’, hands shaking a little in the chill of the room.

The first hit’s something about their last concert, the second about his SeaWorld comments, and the third is about the pink hair. It’s from some website he doesn’t recognize, titled “ _Harry Styles’ Fake Pink Hair Sets Internet Ablaze_ ”. He clicks on it, heart beating too loud in his chest. It’s not so bad at first, simply showing some of the edits and describing why it got big, then moves into Tweets. The first ones are sweet, from fan accounts, about how cute they think it is. The next ones are from normal accounts, and they’re meaner. They’re cruel and derogatory, asking if Harry’s sure he’s a boy and calling him the names that always make him feel like a terrified sixteen-year-old kid again, small and easily rocked by every little blow. There’s people who’ve dragged out the images of him with nail polish or in women’s blouses, saying awful things about it all and how long his hair is.It’s his worst nightmare, all of the terrible awful things he’s been so scared of and tried to hide away from. There’s more down the article, but he can’t finish it. He doesn’t want to go on the internet ever again. He wants to wrap himself up in Louis’ arms and stay in their London home forever in his skirts and braids.

“Harry?”

Louis is standing above him, Liam hovering over his shoulder looking nervous. He seems far away to Harry, like he’s so close but too far to reach. Louis asks, “Baby, are you okay?”

And Harry breaks at that, throwing the phone down on the sofa and covering his face so neither of them will see him cry. He draws his knees up, pressing himself back so he’s farther away. Someone sits next to him and draws him into their arms, and he freezes at first before he recognizes Louis’ soft murmurs.

“Baby, baby, it’s okay. I’m here, love,” Louis says, kissing his hair. “Will you let me see your pretty face?” Harry shakes his head, feeling like Louis would know exactly what was wrong just by looking at his face. Louis pets his arm and tries again, “Please, sweetie. I need to know what’s wrong.”

Harry stills, the cruel words running through his head. He just wants Louis to hold him and tell him everything is okay. He takes his hands away. Louis looks so, so soft and his eyes look so bright blue in the lighting. He asks, “What happened, baby?”

Harry looks around for his phone, grabbing it from where it lays a few feet away. His hands are still shaking as he unlocks it and hands it to Louis, screen still showing the article. He watches Louis’ face fall and he reads, before he closes out of the article and sets it down carefully next to him. He wraps Harry up in his arms again. “H, I’m so, so sorry you saw that, but who cares what some losers say on the internet? There’s nothing, _nothing_ wrong with you. Did you see all the people who liked it? All the people who said how pretty you’d look in it. You can do whatever you want, love, if it makes you happy. You’ve helped so many people, you have no idea. Just because some random people are assholes doesn’t change how wonderful you are and how beautiful you would look with it.”

Harry sniffs, face pressed to Louis’ arm. His voice sounds rough when he says, “It wasn’t just that, though. I-I asked Lou about it, about the pink. She said it was weird.” He chokes up a little, almost crying again. “Said I’m supposed to be masculine.”

Louis’ face goes from sadness to anger in a heartbeat. “She said _what?”_

Harry shakes his head against him. “She didn’t mean to hurt me, Lou.”

Harry’s told himself for so long that he doesn’t care what people say, that it’s not about them. But it is, it really is. It’s about how Harry likes to paint his nails and wear panties and have Louis braid his hair when they’re at home. It’s about how he likes wearing skirts sometimes and how badly he wants to dye his hair pink. It’s about how kids back in school used to mock him when he forgot to take off Gemma’s nail polish. It’s about how mixed up and scared he feels inside because he’s a boy, he’s completely confident that he’s a boy and he feels like a boy. But it’s about how weird people would think he was if they knew how feminine he liked to be, how they’d call him a freak and criticize him for loving all the stuff girls are supposed to like. He’s seen how mean and awful the world is, been treated like shit by dickheads back in school, and he thinks he doesn’t care much for what they say anymore, but he knows the worst would happen if they found out about everything he was at home. It’s about how fucking terrified he is of them knowing that side of him.

“It doesn’t matter if she meant to or not! She _did!_ Why in the _world_ would she say that?” He takes Harry’s face between his hands. “H, I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry she said those things because that’s not okay, and rest assured I’ll be speaking to her later about it. But one person’s opinion doesn’t define you. There is nothing, nothing _, nothing_ wrong with liking girly things. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. They’re just clothes and it’s just hair. No gender implied. You’re not hurting anyone. Boys can do that stuff too, and it’s fine. It’s good. Just because some people might still be stuck in the fourteenth century doesn’t mean you should be scared of them. You are so, so beautiful. No matter what, and I love you with all of my heart.”

Harry wipes his eyes. “I’m so scared, Lou. I’m just so scared of what they’d say. You never heard all the stuff they would say about me back in school sometimes.”

Louis presses kiss all over his face. “It’s going to be okay, I swear. The fans love you. They love you so much. All your friends love you, Anne and Gemma love you. _I_ love you. We love you so fucking much, H, and we’d support you through anything so nothing bad that anyone says can hurt you. Because it doesn’t matter what they say. What matters is how happy it’s going to make you. I know how much you want to do it, and I think it would make you really fucking happy. I’ll hurt anyone who tries to take that away from you.”

Harry’s crying again. He’s so overwhelmed, with so many mixed emotions running through him. He knows, he _knows_ it doesn’t matter what people say. He knows that he’ll probably always care a little about their words, about the cruelties they throw at him. But Louis’ words make him want to be brave. He’s always made him want to be brave.

“Will you call my mum with me?” Harry asks.

Louis nods and hands him his phone. “Of course, love.”

The phone rings four times before Anne picks up, “H! How are you?”

“I’m good, mum. Here with Louis. How’s home?”

Anne says, “Hi, Louis! It’s good. It’s really good. The cat is well. You sound a little upset though, sweetheart.”

Harry hesitates for only a second before he says, “Mum, I think I want to dye my hair pink.”

Anne says immediately, “H, that would look absolutely lovely! Oh, you have to get Gemma to help you, she’ll be so excited. What shade of pink were you thinking?”

Harry smiles so hard his cheeks hurt. Louis is smiling down at him, soft and beautiful. “I was thinking hot pink. Go at it with a bang.”

 

 

Later at the concert that night, Harry turns to the crowd and tells them, “I want you to do whatever makes you happiest in the world.” The way Louis smiles at him makes him feel like he could do anything in the world.

 

-

 

Louis gives Harry a quick, hard kiss before running off after the concert. Liam gives him a weird look, probably thrown off that Louis isn’t tangled up with Harry like usual. Harry gives him a shrug and makes his way back to the dressing room, making sure to shake all the staff’s hands and thank them. Lux is in the dressing room playing on an iPad when he comes in, and she babbles a greeting at him.

“Whatcha doin’, Luxie?” He sits next to her, peeking over her shoulder at the doll game she loves.

She grins at him. “Dress up! Wanna see?”

Harry nods, letting her point out all the accessories of her outfit today. He figures Lou will come to pick her up in a few, but after a while without neither Lou nor Louis coming in, he decides to go find one of them. “Wanna go find your mum, Luxie?”

She nods, setting the iPad down carefully and holding her arms up for Harry to pick her up. She’s getting steadily heavier as she grows, always reminding Harry of just how fast she’s growing up. They wander around the venue, ducking around stage crew and members of their own team, some of whom stop Harry to say hi. Neither Lou nor Louis are anywhere to be seen backstage, so he wanders deeper into the venue, talking to Lux the whole time.

He’s walking down one of the hallways when he hears Louis. His voice is raised, especially high-pitched like it always is when he’s upset. Harry can’t quite make out what he’s saying, but he immediately needs to know if his boy is okay. It’s coming from one of the doors on his left, and he hikes Lux up higher so he can pull it open. Inside, it looks like some sort of extra dressing room or practice room, with a large curtain pulled over one section, where Louis’ voice is coming from. Harry’s not surprised he could hear him all the way from the hallway, as Louis has a tendency to speak too loudly in most situations, but especially when he’s angry.

Harry hesitates at the edge, not wanting to upset Louis by listening in or surprising him and whoever he’s yelling at. He has a sinking feeling in his stomach about who exactly Louis is upset with. Louis’ voice breaks a little as he says, “You can’t say that stuff to him. You just can’t, okay? It’s not right. You shouldn’t say that to anyone. It’s their life and their choices and there’s nothing wrong with it. Don’t make him feel awful just because you’re stuck in the fifteenth century about this stuff. It makes him happy and you just, you just _can’t_ say anything like that to him, okay? And you need to rethink everything about that kind of stuff, because you’re wrong about it.” 

Harry presses his free hand to his mouth to hide his smile. He knows he shouldn’t feel so relieved over Louis making his friend feel bad but he just loves him so much for sticking up for him and for saying what Harry doesn’t yet have the courage to say.

He should probably let them know he’s there before little Lux makes a noise, so he speaks up and pushes around the curtain before anyone can respond, “Hey, um, guys? Sorry to like, interrupt.” He pauses, taking in Louis’ pinched face and crossed arms facing Lou, who’s got her hands held behind her back. Her face looks crushed. They both stare at him silently. He says carefully, “I didn’t mean to listen in. I just, thought I’d find you ‘cause I had Lux and – I’m sorry, I can just go now.”

He starts to turn before Lou catches his arm. Her eyes are glistening and sad and Harry hates to see her upset, even if she hurt him first. She opens her mouth and closes it, staring up at him. Finally she chokes out, “Harry, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I-I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Harry blinks slowly. He doesn’t know what to say to her, because he doesn’t want to tell her it’s okay. Her words and the opinions backing them weren’t okay, and they never will be. He still can’t help but feel like she’s going to look at him differently after this, like he’s some kind of science experiment or something she’ll never understand. He settles on, “I know you didn’t. I-I’m not angry with you.”

“But I hurt you,” she says hesitantly.

Harry doesn’t know what to say to her. “Yes,” he says slowly, trailing off.

She presses her lips together tightly. Lux breaks the silence by reaching for Lou and saying, “I’m hungry, mum. Can we get chicken nuggets?”

Lou startles, eyes blinking rapidly. “Of course, sweetie.” She reaches out hesitantly to take her daughter, and Harry carefully hands the little girl over. She kisses the top of Lux’s head, smoothing her hair down. She says to Harry, “I’m sorry. I’m just really, really sorry. I, um, I have to go take care of her, but I am.”

Harry nods at her, wrapping her arms around his middle. She presses her lip together again and dips her head before leaving the room. Louis immediately wraps him up in a hug, saying “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have talked to her without asking you. I just, I wanted to make sure she never said anything to hurt you again.”

Harry kisses his cheek and presses in closer. “It’s okay, Lou, it’s okay. I’m not mad about that. I just hate seeing her upset.”

“She has to realize it’s not okay, Harry,” he says softly. His voice is gentle, far removed from the venom of earlier.

“I know. I just, maybe I should have talked to her first.”

Louis nods. “I’m sorry. I did it without thinking it over. I won’t do that again, I promise.”

Harry kisses him again. “Thank you. Can we go now? I really want to just get room service and watch _Love Actually_.”

“Yes, and I’m gonna cuddle you so hard.”

 

 

They’re laying in bed, completely fucked out, with _Love Actually_ playing in the background when Harry’s phone dings with his sister’s text tone.

Gemma: _Heard you guys had a problem with Lou today… Brekkie FaceTime tomorrow?_

 

-

 

“Hey, baby bro!” Gemma’s face pops up on the screen. She’s sitting at her kitchen counter, tea and cereal set in front of her, in her cat pajamas.

“Hi, Gems,” Harry grins. He’s got his own breakfast out in front of him, and he raises the teacup to the screen. She raises hers as well, as tradition calls for their FaceTime breakfasts.

She sips her tea, wrinkling her nose. It’s probably too hot. Gemma always sips her tea too soon after it’s made. “Where’s Louis?”

“Shower.”

She nods, setting down the tea and leaning forward. “So...Can I ask about what happened with Lou yesterday?”

Harry bites his lip. “How much did she tell you?”

“Said she made some comment about how you’re supposed to look masculine and Louis laid into her about it later. She sounded really freaked out over the phone, kept saying how sorry she was for hurting you.” She pauses, eyes soft with worry. “I don’t want you to think I’m taking her side here or anything, okay? It’s not okay if she hurt you. That’s not okay with me.”

“I…” he hesitates. “It’s just, I mean, you know this, I just really like doing stuff that people say is girly. And it hurts when people say it’s weird or bad.” His voice cracks on the last words and he stares down into his cup. “And hearing it from someone I trust…”

Gemma folds her hands around her mug. “Harry, I’m so sorry she said that. You don’t deserve anyone making you feel bad for anything that makes you happy, especially when there’s nothing wrong with it.”

“Thanks. I know she didn’t mean to hurt me or anything…” He pushes his hair out of his face. “It’s just that I’ve been thinking about doing this thing lately, and I’m scared of what people would think, even though I know it doesn’t matter.”

“What is it?” She smiles gently at him, pressing a little closer to the screen.

He twirls his ring around his finger and looks up at her hesitantly. “Have you seen any of those edits of me with the ends of my hair dyed pink?”

And Harry loves his sister. He loves her so, so much because her eyes light up immediately and she lets out this little excited noise. He loves that she understands him in a way sometimes not even Louis can, that she can practically read his mind and know exactly what he needs. She nods and grins, bright and loving. “’Course I have. I think you’d look amazing with it.”

He can’t keep the smile off his face. “Thank you. I think I, uh, really want to do it.”

She twirls her own hair around one finger. “Which salon are you gonna go to? And what exact color do you want? I know you just had this issue with Lou, which, by the way, I will be speaking to her about later, but Bleach London is really good at their job. Or I mean, any salon could pretty much do the trick.”

Harry covers his mouth to hide his smile. He knows Gemma is going to flip over his next words. “Actually, I wanted Louis to do it.”

Gemma’s eyes nearly pop out of her head. “You can’t be serious. Louis? With hair dye? Seriously, the boy is a _menace.”_

Harry grins. “I know, I know. But he knows how much it means to me, and he could learn how to do it.”

Gemma raises her eyebrows. “You’re sure about this?”

“Yes. I just really want him to be the one to do it. He’s always been so supportive and wonderful and he loves the idea.”

Gemma nods her head shortly. “Ok, well then I’m going to have to fly out to teach him. I’m sure Lou would help once she’s got her head together. I can probably do next weekend, or like Thursday. Thursday through Sunday, maybe. Where are you?”

“Oh, we’re back in California next week. Think we do San Diego or something on Friday or Saturday, but we’re off during the week except for recording.”

Gemma nods, scrolling through her phone. “Yeah, I can come up late Wednesday and stay through Sunday. I can visit my friends out there for a bit.” She looks up, smiling. “I’ll bring my new nail polish too, if you want. And we can have a movie night one night and FaceTime mum. Does she know about this hair thing, by the way?”

He nods. “Told her yesterday before the show.”

She frowns exaggeratedly. “Can’t believe you told mum first.”

“Sometimes you just need your mum,” Harry shrugs.

Suddenly Louis is pressing a kiss to the top of his head and greeting him, “Hi, love.”

Harry hums, turning his head to give him a better kiss. “Good shower?”

“Mhm. Hi, Gem!” He waves into the camera.

She waves back. “Hey, Lou. I’m coming up next week to teach you how to hair.”

Louis wrinkles his nose, sitting down on Harry’s lap. Harry wraps his arms around him, resting his chin on his shoulder. Louis says, “Lottie says we would have to bleach it first and bleach smells terrible.”

“You asked Lottie about this?” Harry asks, voice slightly raised.

“Not about you specifically.” He presses a kiss to Harry’s hand. “She doesn’t know about the pink thing.” He turns back to the screen. “She’s back at home now for a bit, you probably know, so she hasn’t been around for the whole thing.”

Gemma nods. “Yeah, I keep getting snaps of her and that boy.”

Louis frowns. “I know. I’m gonna have to meet him and give him a talking to.”

“Think I might do the same!” she laughs, taking a sip of her tea again.

The three of them talk until they’ve drunk all their tea, and Louis is clamoring to take a nap. Gemma says goodbye with a promise to forward her flight to Harry (which he most definitely will not contact his assistant about secretly paying for).

 

-

 

They wake up to knocking on the door the next morning. Louis rolls off Harry onto his back, mumbling something at Harry about the noise. Harry groans and rolls out of bed, pulling on underwear before shuffling to the door. He looks through the peephole, startling a bit when he sees it’s Lou and Lux, not Dale or one of the boys like he was expecting.

She waves sheepishly with one hand when he opens the door, and Lux copies her. They’re both in their pajamas and slippers, Lou carrying a tote bag. She asks, “Can we come in?”

Harry nods silently but leans forward to give Lux a kiss on the head after he shuts the door behind her. Louis sits up when he sees Lou, leaning back on the pillows and eyeing her carefully. “Hi, Louis,” she says softly. “Would you mind keeping an eye on Lux while I talk to Harry?”

Louis nods, holding his arms out so she can hand her to him. “Hi, Luxie,” he greets her. “Wanna take a nap with me while your mom and H talk?” She nods enthusiastically, clearly still sleepy from the earliness of the morning.

Harry leads Lou out to the balcony after throwing on one of Louis’ old, larger hoodies and his own joggers. It’s warm out here, even though it’s just heating up and the sun is low in the sky. He sits down on one seat and Lou takes the other, carefully keeping the bag on her lap.

“Harry, I’m sorry,” she says. “I really, really am. I didn’t want to hurt you or make you feel bad. And I realize now that what I was saying wasn’t okay and those views aren’t acceptable.” She pauses, leaning forward a little. “I really mean it. I know just saying it isn’t going to convince you, but I hope you know I understand I was wrong.”

He bites his lips and wraps his arms around his middle. “Do you still think it’s weird?”

She shakes her head violently. “No, no, I’m so sorry. Looking back, I should’ve stopped with that attitude a long time ago. I realize now how happy all the hair stuff and like, painting your nails, makes you. And with the little speech you gave at the last concert… I don’t want you or anyone to ever feel bad just because something makes you happy. I really mean that, from the bottom of my heart.”

Harry smiles gently at her. “I do forgive you, you know. I just hope you know that I think there’s nothing wrong about boys liking stuff that people say girls are supposed to like.”

She nods. “I know, I know. I get that now. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it, but I swear I’m keeping an open mind. Wait,” she pauses, opening the tote bag on her lap. “I got you something.”

She hands Harry a silver box. Harry smiles, covering his mouth when he reads that it’s a hair bleach kit. She pulls out a hot pink box next and gives it to him. “It’s pink hair dye, to go with the bleach kit. There’s a little book on how to properly dip dye. And this, too.”

She hands him a medium-sized paper. It’s one of the look pages Harry’s seen her make for countless makeup and hairstyles, but it’s filled with the pink hair edits and various shades of pink hair dyes, as well as pictures of girls with short dip dyed pink hair. It feels like his heart might burst with how happy he is, at how beautiful it is. “Lou, thank you, thank you so much,” he chokes out, overcome a bit with how nice the whole thing is.

“I just wanted you to know I would completely support you if you chose to do it. I think it would look fantastic.” She smiles broadly at him.

He sets the look page on his lap, careful to not wrinkle it at the edges. “Do you think you could teach someone how to do it? The dip dye?”

She blinks a few times before answering, “Of course.”

“Do you think you could teach Louis?”

Her eyes widen. “I…Well, yes. Of course I could.”

“Great. Are you free next Thursday?”

 

-

 

“Ok, so wrap it in aluminum foil for twenty minutes. Got it,” Louis mumbles to himself, finally unwrapping the foil from Gemma’s hair. They’re using Gemma as a test subject for Louis, with only a short section and week-long dye. She’s getting her hair cut next week, anyway. Harry’s perched up on the kitchen counter top next to the laptop they’re using to FaceTime Anne. He’s keeping an eye on Lux while Lou demonstrates how to mix up the dye.

“Did you wash the bleach out enough, Louis?” Anne asks from the screen. She’s got the cat balanced on her lap.

Louis nods, tongue poking out as he wrinkles his forehead mixing the fancy dye Lou got. “Think so. It’s good, right, Lou?”

Lou examines Gemma’s ends again. “They’re perfect.”

“Sorry to be a worry wart,” Anne sighs, petting the cat. “Just wish I could be there with my babies.”

Gemma and Harry coo in harmony. Harry leans over to stick his face in the camera. “We love you, mum. I miss you so much,” Harry frowns.

“Don’t frown, H.” Anne smiles. “You’ll be home soon. I’m happy to be there as much as I can.”

Gemma sighs, “You better look at all my snaps, mum. I can FaceTime you from the concert, too.”

Louis laughs, finally starting to put the dye in her hair under Lou’s watchful eye. “Still can’t believe you and my mum both have snapchats.”

“’Course we do! I have a thirty day snap snap streak with her. And don’t think I don’t see those stories of you drinking with Niall.” Anne wags her finger.

Harry barks out a laugh, covering his mouth. Louis is fishmouthing at the camera. He finally closes his mouth and swallows. “I may have forgotten we’re friends on there.”

Gemma and Lou burst out laughing too. Louis covers his face with one hand, laughing too. He shakes his head, focusing back on Gemma’s hair. Harry smirks, “Baby, don’t I always tell you to delete those?”

Louis frowns. “Hey, at least I know how to use Snapchat better than my mum, unlike you. All you do is send pictures of fruit with weird captions.”

Gemma snickers, “That’s actually true.”

Harry pouts. “You guys are so mean to me.”

“Part of the job description, baby bro,” Gemma laughs.

 

-

 

Harry wakes up to a hard cock pressed up against his bum. He lets out a low groan, already feeling hot all over from the length pressed between his cheeks. They hadn’t fucked last night, having stayed up so late laughing with Gemma and then flopping into bed. Harry’s used to getting to have Louis every night when they’re off, and his heart is already beating hard from Louis pressed against him. He presses back, getting rewarded with a low groan from his boy. He moves slowly against him, rocking just enough to get Louis’ cock a little wet and Louis moaning in his sleep.

And well, Louis deserves a reward for how wonderful he’s been, for how hard he concentrated yesterday on learning exactly how to dye Harry’s hair perfectly. And Harry knows how much Louis loves waking up to this, so Harry turns over and pushes Louis onto his back gently so he won’t wake up. He crawls down his front, perching on his legs in front of his cock. It’s so hard, dark red and leaking at the tip and Harry wants it in his mouth yesterday.

He doesn’t waste any time, sucking the tip into his mouth. Louis lets out a soft noise in his sleep, arching up into Harry. Harry sucks him as far down as he can and takes the rest of his length in his hand, pumping in rhythm. Louis is making more and more breathy noises, starting to thrust shallowly into Harry’s mouth and twist his hands into the sheets. He’s so close to waking up.

Harry pops off for a little, stroking the whole length with his hand. He licks a fat stripe up to his tip and kisses his slit lightly before taking him in his mouth again. Louis bucks up with a gasp, and Harry looks up just in time to see his eyes fly open.

He looks so sinful, even from this angle. His eyes are bright blue in the pale light and his caramel-colored fringe falls down his forehead, rumpled from sleep. He arches up into Harry’s mouth, leaning his head back against the pillow to groan.

“Morning, baby,” Harry says calmly before sucking him down again.

Louis’ hands make their way into his hair, pulling at the ends and scratching at his scalp. He moans, “M-morning, angel.” He almost yelps as Harry licks up his length again. “ _Fuck,_ feels so good, H.”

Harry hums around his cock, making him buck desperately. Harry presses his hands gently to his hips and pulls off. “Can you stay quiet for me? Don’t want Gemma to hear.”

They both know they specifically got their bedroom soundproofed just for when guests visit, but Louis’ eyes go so dark and he nods frantically. Louis is loud in bed. He loves yelling out Harry’s name, especially loud when he comes, but he always gets hard in a matter of seconds when Harry asks him to be quiet. He’s explained it to Harry before – it’s something about being forced to be quiet when he’s always loud, loud, loud. Harry loves seeing him like this. So often it’s Louis taking care of Harry, but Harry gets to take care of him like this.

“Thank you, baby,” he says, pressing kisses down Louis’ cock. “Gonna take you so deep now.”

He keeps his hands pressed to Louis’ hips and sinks down completely, relaxing his throat and taking his cock so deep until the tip of his nose hits Louis’ stomach. Louis lets out a soft whimper and Harry pinches his hip. His hands are tangled up in his hair, not quite pulling but scratching lightly at him. Harry feels his own mind blanking out a bit from how good it feels to have his boy’s cock stuffed completely in his mouth; he can feel his eyes tearing up from the pressure of it. He moans around him, making Louis try to press his hips up, but he can’t, restrained by Harry’s hands. Harry swallows around him, starting to feel light-headed from it all. He can feel his throat moving around Louis’ cock, moaning deeply again as his cock twitches, the way that means he’s about to come. He pulls at Harry’s hair once to warn him before coming deep in his throat.

Harry sucks him through his orgasm, not stopping until Louis gently pulls him off his cock. He looks fucked out, melted back into the pillow but gesturing Harry towards him. Harry wraps himself around him, letting Louis press kisses to his head. “Fuck, baby, that was so good.”

Harry smiles in response, kissing his jaw. His own cock lays heavy and hard against his leg, but he would never take hold of it without Louis asking him to. He lets out a deep sigh against his chest.

“Bet you’re so hard from that, baby. Know sucking cock makes my baby so turned on, just want to please me,” Louis says softly into his hair, petting through the curls.

It feels so natural, so comforting and lovely to switch so seamlessly back into their roles. Harry nods against him and mumbles, “Wanna come.”

“Know you do, baby.” Louis takes Harry’s cock in his hand, squeezing it. Harry whines high in his throat, pressing his forehead to Louis’ shoulder. Louis pets his hair and pumps Harry’s cock in a steady rhythm between their bodies, letting Harry’s pre-come slick his cock up just enough. It hurts a little but it only makes Harry even harder. He’s lost in the feeling of Louis’ hand on him, working him so good he can only close his eyes and take it. Louis murmurs in his ear, “Come for me?”

And just like that, there’s streaks of come all over the two of them. Harry keens lowly as Louis pumps him through it, only stopping when Harry makes a little pained noise. They lay there, tangled up for a minute, before Louis lets out a laugh. “That’s quite the wakeup call, Harold.”

Harry giggles into him. “Thought you deserved it for how lovely you’ve been.”

“Of course, baby.” Louis smiles. “Want to go find Gems?”

Harry nods, rolling over to let Louis out. He shuffles into their bathroom to grab a flannel to clean them up before they put clothes on. Louis’ pulled out hoodies and sweatshirts for the two of them when he gets back. He gestures at them and says, “Got out the ratty stuff so, you know, it won’t get ruined if I mess up and get dye on them later.”

Harry kisses his cheek. “You won’t mess up.” Louis gives him an exasperated look. Harry giggles, continuing, “I mean like, even if you do I won’t mind. I think you’re gonna do a wonderful job.”

Louis smiles and gives him a kiss back. Once they’ve got their clothes on, they wander down the stairs to the kitchen and living room. Gemma is bundled up in a blanket on the couch, watching a _British_ _Bake-Off_ re-run. She glances up when they come in, snorting and pulling the blanket up further around her. “The least you idiots could do is smooth down your sex hair before you come out here.”

Louis chokes on a laugh, but Harry feels himself flush. “Shut up, you. I was just about to make you tea, too.”

Gemma pouts, “Will you please make me tea? C’mon, H, be a good sibling or I’ll tell mum you’re neglecting me out here.”

Harry frowns. “You wouldn’t.”

She smirks evilly. Harry sighs and disappears into the kitchen and Louis plops down next to her. Gemma yawns and asks, “Ready for today?”

Louis nods. “Yeah, kinda nervous I’ll fuck it up.”

“He won’t even care if you fuck it up.” She fixes a look on him, serious and thoughtful. “It means the world that you’re doing this for him. I think the thought of someone else doing it scares him shitless.”

 Louis smiles softly. “Well, I love him. I want to do anything that makes him happy. And I don’t think there’s anything weird or odd about it, so.” He looks down at his hands, stroking the rope on his wrist absently. “Haven’t told him yet, but I think it’s quite brave of him to do it. Lord knows I wouldn’t have the balls.”

Gemma nods, watching the rope. “I’m just glad he’s not so scared of that part of him anymore.”

Louis grins at her. They share a moment before Harry’s bustling back in, somehow holding three mugs of tea in his big hands. He sets them down in front of them and curls into Louis’ side. “What’re you doing today, Gem?”

“Figured we could eat lunch together, and then I’m meeting up with some friends for the night and staying at one of theirs.” She smiles softly at him. “Wanted to give you guys some time to yourselves to do your hair. Then I’ll see you again tomorrow morning. I’m expecting tons of pictures, though. Better send me all the snaps you can.”

Harry laughs into his hand. “Louis’ better at Snapchat than me.”

She rolls her eyes. “I don’t care who sends them, you knobhead.”

“I was going to make you both breakfast but I guess Gemma doesn’t want any, so Lou?” He nuzzles into Louis’ neck and looks up at him lovingly. “What do you want for brekkie?”

Louis cackles, throwing his head back. Gemma frowns and says, “It wasn’t even that funny, God, Louis.”

Harry pouts, “ _Hey,_ I’m hilarious.”

“Sure, baby,” Louis snickers. “Will you make us pancakes, now?”

Harry hums thoughtfully. “Only if you make me another cuppa after I finish this one.”

Louis shrugs. “Why couldn’t you just make all of us another one while you’re in there?”

“ _Lou,”_ Harry says exasperatedly.

Louis giggles, tugging him off the couch and standing up. He shuffles into the kitchen. “Come on, love.”

 

-

 

“Ready, baby?”

Harry nods, absently, eyes locked on the bleach and dye set out on the kitchen counter. He’s got some sort of hair poncho wrapped around him, the floor is covered in newspaper, and he’s perched on a stool facing Louis. Louis is biting his lip, swiping again and again at his own fringe. It’s a nervous tic that Harry’s never pointed out to him, too enthralled by the way it makes him look like he’s eighteen again.

“I promise I’ll do my best not to fuck it up.”

Harry fixes him with a look, gently taking one of his hands in his own. “Baby, you’ve said that ten times today. And every time I said I don’t care.”

Louis grins at him softly, leaning forward to kiss him on his forehead. “Sorry, sorry, I know. I’ll start, then.”

He puts on one of Harry’s favorite playlists, one he and Louis made together. They’d sat in bed and put the songs on together, arguing over which of their suggestions should make it and which shouldn’t. It’d taken them almost an hour to complete, with breaks for kissing, of course, and every time Harry listens to it his whole body relaxes. It takes him right back to that sleepy morning, sunshine streaming in just enough through the curtains and letting him see the crinkles by Louis’ eyes and how pink his lips looked in the early hours.

Harry doesn’t realize Louis’ begun until there’s the distinctive crinkle of aluminum foil by his ear. And just like that, there’s pretty much no going back. There’s no telling Louis to stop, with the bleach already folded carefully into his hair. Harry can’t keep the grin off his face. He can feel it almost splitting his cheeks, and he imagines how goofy he must look. But there’s an overwhelming sense of joy and excitement rushing through every part of his body, filling him up in a different way than he’s ever felt before.

“Why’re you smiling so hard, silly?” Louis asks softly, tongue poking out again like when he’d done Gemma’s and eyes fixed on the bit of hair he’s working on.

“Just,” Harry pauses, considering. “Just really, really excited to see how it turns out.”

Louis nods thoughtfully. “I can’t wait to see it.”

“I love you,” Harry grins. He feels Louis’ hands freeze for a second in his hair before the crinkling of the foil returns.

Louis’ voice is so, so gentle when he answers, “I love you, too.”

Harry lets himself get lost in the music and the crinkling of the foil, then. Hozier is crooning in his ears, something about cherry wine and angels, then Harry’s favorite Rolling Stones song. Louis pauses every once in a bit to squeeze Harry’s shoulder or pet down his arm. Ed Sheeran is singing one of the songs he wrote for them when Louis pulls back and says brightly, “Done!”

Harry breaks into a grin. “How long does it sit in again?”

“Half hour should be fine. Here, we can go watch something while it works its magic.”

Louis leads him back to the couch, flopping down next to him and wrapping the blanket around the two of them. He carefully checks the foils before leaning on Harry’s shoulder. “Don’t move too much, now. Don’t wanna muss those up.”

“’Course not, Lou. Wouldn’t want to mess up your work.”

Louis huffs against him, body slowing growing slack. He mumbles, “Might take a nap. You gotta wake me in a half hour, okay?”

Harry laughs under his breath. He pulls out his phone and takes a million selfies of himself with Louis asleep on his shoulder. He even snapchats one to Gemma, Anne, and the boys. Niall snaps him a photo of his TV a few minutes later with some caption about derby, then a selfie of him sticking out his tongue captioned “ _Hair’s gonna b sick!”_

Harry genuinely can’t wait for the boys to see it. Zayn had called him a few minutes after Harry texted him his plans to ask if he wanted dye advice. Liam and Niall had been a little shocked at first, but had pulled him into a giant group hug only seconds later. Harry swears Niall had almost teared up, babbling something about how he couldn’t believe this Harry was the same one he’d met on the X Factor so long ago. Harry doesn’t know if he can blame him. His sixteen-year-old self would have shit his pants at the thought of dying his hair pink. He never could’ve handled all the things people would say about him.

He nudges Louis awake in a half hour. The boy wakes up with a yawn, tugging Harry sleepily by the wrist to the kitchen. He carefully unwraps the foil and bends Harry over to wash the bleach out. He’s humming something under his breath, maybe one of the new songs he’s recorded with Julian and refuses to show Harry yet.

He blow dries Harry’s ends dry to dye them and makes them both a cuppa before getting to the dye. Harry closes his eyes again. Ryn Weaver is singing about Pierre to him as Louis takes little bits of his hair in his hands and wrapping them up in pink dye and foil.

Really, Harry doesn’t think he could get luckier than he is in this very moment. Louis is the most incredible person Harry’s ever met. He’s so kind, with the biggest heart out of anyone he’s met, and fiercely loyal. He can wield his own worth when he needs to, always dreaming of the next big thing they can do as a group or he can do on his own. He loves deeply and is endlessly supportive of everyone he comes into contact with. Harry doesn’t know if he’s ever loved him more than in this moment, sat on his stool with Louis’ hands tangled up in hair dye. He’s so proud of him, for learning how to do this so quickly (although he’s positive he read the entirety of the book Lou gave Harry to prepare even before doing Gemma’s hair). He knows that no matter what anyone thinks of the end product, no matter how weirdly anyone might treat him, he’s going to have his boy by his side no matter what. He’s going to get to have the best person in the world tangled up with him in bed tonight, and the night after, and every night until they’ve reached the ends of their days. Louis always pushes him to be as happy as he can, to do whatever he wants no matter what anyone thinks. And Harry knows he’d never be sitting here, pink dye in his hair, without him.

It doesn’t even seem like that long has passed when Louis moves in front of him, entire face lit up with a grin. “It’s done.”

Harry pulls him into his arms, getting him between his legs and wrapping himself fully around him. He can feel the nervous energy pulsing through him now, an eagerness for the time to pass quickly so he can see it finished. As if he can sense his worry, Louis pulls him into a deep kiss, pressing his tongue deep into Harry’s mouth. It works, by any means, and Harry can feel his nerves settling one by one as Louis’ heat sears into his.

Louis pulls off him with a grin. “The dye needs forty minutes. Plenty of time for me to get you to come again.”

Harry chokes on a moan as Louis immediately gets his hand down his joggers, wrapping his warm hand around Harry’s cock. He pumps slowly, letting Harry harden gradually. “Can’t wait to fuck you tonight, princess. Gonna pull on your lovely pink hair ‘til you cry.”

“ _Lou,”_ Harry breathes out.

“Are you thinking about it, baby? Thinking about how hard I’m gonna fuck you? Gonna let my dirty little princess know how much I like his pretty pink curls. Gonna drive him into the mattress.”

Harry can’t help the loud whimper. Images of pink hair tangled up in Louis’ grip fills his mind, pink hair splayed out on the pillow as Louis fucks him so good he struggles to walk the next morning. He moans as Louis pulls his joggers down, not having to bother with pants since he wasn’t wearing any.

“Think you deserve a reward, princess? For sitting all still and perfect for me.”

Harry nods frantically and mumbles out a yes.

“Hmm… Want me to suck your cock, baby? Could get it all nice and wet, take you down nice and deep.” Louis tilts his neck back, kissing at his neck, careful to brush the foils out of the way. “Want that?”

“Yes, yes, _fuck._ Oh my god.”

“Wanna hear you say please, love,” Louis says, sinking to his knees.

Harry could probably come just from how good he looks on his knees. “ _Please,_ Lou. Please.”

Louis grins up and him and then wastes no time, leaning forward and sucking Harry down. Harry covers his mouth with his hand to hold back his yelp. Louis is so hot around him. He loses his fucking mind when Louis hums around him, starting to bob his head up and down. “ _Lou, Lou,”_ Harry chants.

Louis takes the base of his cock in one hand, pumping up and down in tempo with his mouth. His grips Harry’s thigh with the other, pressing his nails in. Harry whimpers at the pain, but it just heightens everything, makes it just that more intense. He wants to throw his head back, but he knows Louis would yell at him for mussing up the foils. So he moans instead, gripping the stool’s edge underneath him and shaking on the seat.

Louis is taking him down so deep, so hot and perfect. Harry can feel himself starting to lose it. “Lou, gonna come, need to come.”

Louis pops off, making Harry whimper at the cold air. “Think you deserve to come, baby?”

“Yes, yes, sat so still. Was so good for you, wasn’t I?”

“I suppose so,” Louis musing, digging deeper into Harry’s thigh and making him whimper. “Think you can come for me when I pinch you?”

Harry nods. “Yea, gonna come so quick.”

“Good,” Louis says before taking him even deeper this time. Harry chokes as his nose brushes against his belly. Louis unwraps his hand from around his thigh and pinches him, and Harry comes with a shout down his throat. Louis presses a sweet kiss to his tip before pulling off and standing up. “Was that good, love?”

“You know it was good. Amazing,” Harry says, pulling Louis close to him again and kissing the tip of his nose.

“I really can’t wait to see the hair,” Louis says earnestly. “I’ll check on it now, but it should be done pretty soon.”

Harry sits still as Louis checks on the wrapped up bits, humming to himself again. “Mmm, it’s not quite ready but I can make us another cuppa in the meantime.”

“Peppermint?” Harry asks hopefully.

Louis rolls his eyes. He’s a Yorkshire lad all the way, himself. “’Course, baby.”

Harry pulls out his phone and takes more selfies with the foils in his hair. He takes a few pictures of Louis making tea, too, just for good measure. Gemma snaps back a picture of her and some girl on the beach, captioned “ _Is it done soon, loser?”_ Harry snaps back a picture of him sticking his tongue out, “ _Maybe, bigger loser.”_

Louis hands him his tea just as Ed starts singing, “ _You look so wonderful in your dress, I love your hair like that, the way it falls down on the side of your neck, down your shoulders and back.”_ And Harry can’t keep the grin off his face, because it’s another of the songs Ed wrote about them, when Harry started growing his hair out, and one of Harry’s favorites. Louis meets his smile, leaning in to give him a kiss, mouth warm from his last sip of too-hot tea. He pulls away right when the song gets to “ _so in love”,_ and he mouths the words, eyes soft and hand resting on Harry’s cheek.

Harry loves these moments – the randomly intense ones, the ones where one of them feels particularly in love with the other and has to slow everything down to let them know. They have an unspoken promise to never break the moment unless interrupted or the one who started it steps back. Louis kisses him for the rest of the song, palms soft on his skin and so, so gentle in his movements. He only pulls away when the song fades away to silence.

He hums along with Vance Joy next, unwrapping the foils all the way. He gently directs Harry back to the sink so he can rinse. Louis is smiling at him, the smile that makes him look like he’s the literal sun, eye crinkles and all. “It’s definitely pink.”

Harry feels that funny feeling again all over, except this time it’s not bad at all. It’s only excitement running through him, a pure delight that makes him feel like Louis’ injected some of his sunshine straight into his veins. “Can I see it?”

“Of course you can, if you want to. Do you want to wait ‘til it’s dry, though? It’ll be a better reveal.”

Harry nods thoughtfully. He wants to surprise himself, wants to have a big reveal. His hair won’t take long to dry anyways. “Can we watch more _Bake-Off_?”

They cuddle on the couch, Harry laying his head on Louis’ shoulder. They tangle their hands together and rest them on Louis’ thigh. Harry tries to relax into him, but his whole body feels like its buzzing. “Okay, baby?” Louis asks.

“Really good. Just really excited to see it.”

Louis reaches up to pet his hair. “Soon, baby.”

Harry nods, settling in to distract himself with cake.

“Surprised you haven’t said the baker line,” Louis mutters.

“ _Hey,”_ Harry protests, lifting his head up to glare at him.         

“It’s not my fault that anytime you’re in a two foot radius of baked goods you start rambling about being a baker.”

“You love my baking.” Harry frowns.

Louis laughs and presses a kiss to his damp curls. “’Course I do. Just saying you should maybe like, mix that line up.”

Harry narrows his eyes. “Was that a baking pun?”

Louis frowns for a second, before he realizes and slaps a hand over his face. “ _Harold,”_ he admonishes.

“ _What,”_ Harry giggles.

“I’m staging an intervention,” Louis says. “I’m gonna call up Li and Ni tomorrow, so we can fix you before the concert. We have to stop these baking puns.” He pauses, staring at his hair. “Although I’m suddenly tempted to solely call you cupcake now because of this pink.”

Harry beams at that. He knows most people would call him that rudely (save for some of the fans), but Louis says it so sweetly, so kind and soft. “I wouldn’t say no,” he says, lifting their joined hands to kiss Louis’.

Louis hums, “Princess or cupcake?”

“Hmm,” Harry muses. His mind is running through Louis fucking him from behind and calling him either name. “How about both?”

“Getting greedy, H?” Louis teases, eyes fixed on Harry’s.

Harry rolls his eyes, cuddling tighter into his boy. “Only for you, Lou.”

They fall into a comfortable silence then, the judges mumbling on in the background about cakes. Harry would be lying if he said he wasn’t judging them, too. Tom’s frosting looks way too chunky for his taste.

“Wanna see it?” Louis asks when the episode is over.

Harry nods, standing up and pulling Louis along. “Wanna see it in the big mirror.”

They go up to the mirror in their bedroom. Louis makes Harry close his eyes and let Louis lead him in. They sit down on the bed together, and finally Louis says, “You should look at it now.”

Harry whips his eyes open and _fuck,_ they start tearing up immediately. It looks exactly how he’d dreamed it, soft hot pink curls starting a little above his chin, falling down to his shoulders and framing his face so sweetly. It’s so bright, somehow fading perfectly into the rest of his dark brown hair. He’s almost hesitant to touch it, slowly reaching up and stroking one pink curl. He half-expects his fingers to turn pink, or for the dye to rub out of his hair somehow. But it’s just soft, soft pink hair. He runs his hand from the top of his hair to the bottom, the way he always does, and watches the pink run through his fingers and settle down again on his shoulders.

“Thank you.” His voice chokes and he turns to his boy. Louis’ already pulling him into his arms, whispering sweet things to him. Harry’s definitely crying now, and he mumbles into Louis’ neck, “Thank you, thank you, thank you, _I love you._ I love you so much. Thank you.”

“Of course, sweetie. Of course,” Louis says back, petting his hair softly.

“Do you like it?”

Louis pulls back, keeping his hands on his shoulders. “Baby, yes. It looks absolutely stunning. It looks so, so incredible. I _love_ it. Do you like it?”

Harry nods quickly. “ _Yes,_ God, I love it so much, Lou.”

Harry kisses him then, deep and hot. He wants Louis to know how much he loves him. He loves him so much – he could never write enough songs or poems or sweet little nothings to make it all make sense. They’re so many words for what they are together, but never enough at the same time.

Louis moans into his mouth, letting Harry press in deeper and deeper. They only pull away when they’re panting for air. “Baby,” Louis trails kisses down his neck, tilting his neck back. “Wanna get fucked tonight? Been thinking about me tugging on that lovely pink hair?”

Harry nods, “Yes, god yes. Want it so bad.”

“Take your clothes off.”

Harry stands up and almost trips in his rush to get his joggers off. Louis snorts, “You’re so clumsy taking pants off, even when they’re as loose as this.” Harry blushes, tugging off his hoodie and standing there naked.

Louis’ eyes are dark as they watch him. “Can you get on your hands and knees on the bed, love?”

Harry complies quickly, scrabbling up the bed to the middle. Louis’ somehow got his own clothes off by the time Harry’s in position and grabbed lube. He shuffles up on the bed and grips Harry’s hip, leaning over him and pressing kisses up his spine. “Fuck, you’re making me so fucking hard, baby.”

“’M not even doing anything,” Harry breathes out. Louis’ hands are trailing up and down his sides, scratching lightly at his hips.

“Can’t stop looking at your hair.” Louis bites down on his shoulder, making Harry arch up into him with a gasp. His hands are in his hair now and all Harry can think about is the pink running through his fingers.

“ _Lou,”_ he moans. Louis is so hot all around him, pressed entirely against his back.

Louis moves back down his back, trailing kisses. He pauses at the dimples at the bottom of his back, gripping his hands in his lips. He bites lightly at one, pressing a soft kiss to it. Harry jumps when he licks into the dimple, clenching the sheets under him. Louis moves to the other, licking and kissing at it. Harry wonders if there will be a mark tomorrow. Knowing Louis, there will be.

There’s a snicker of the lube bottle opening, and the wet sound of Louis coating his fingers. Harry’s heart is beating so hard in his chest, maybe Louis can hear it filling up the room like he can. Louis traces around his hole, getting lube all over the rim. Harry whimpers high in his throat, already going crazy from just the soft touches.

Finally, Louis presses in with one finger. Harry lets out a moan as he presses in deep, letting himself get used to the feeling before he begs for more. “Please, please, more, Lou.”

“Shh, baby,” Louis says. But he gives him another, scissoring them and opening his boy up. He works his way up to three, pumping them slowly at first but building up as Harry moans hotly. He curls them perfectly to hit Harry’s prostate and Harry nearly drops down onto his forearms. Louis is so good at opening him up, so good at getting him ready for his cock.

Harry whines as Louis pulls his fingers out, clenching around nothing. “Lou?”

He’s tempted to turn around to see what he’s up to before Louis spreads his cheeks apart and licks a long, wet stripe over his hole. “ _Fuck,”_ Harry almost yells, ducking his head down and dropping down to his forearms.

Louis bites his arse cheek softly before pressing in again, tonguing at his hole. Harry’s whole body shakes as he pushes past the rim and fucks into him. His whole body is on fire, he’s burning up from the pleasure and Louis’ searing heat. Pleasure screams through his veins, filling up every little part of him. Louis switches between thrusting his tongue inside and licking over it, making the best noises Harry’s ever heard. He’s gripping Harry’s arse cheeks in his hands, so hard Harry knows there will be marks there, too, tomorrow.

Harry shudders when Louis pulls away and kisses one of his cheeks. He feels thoroughly fucked out already, completely consumed by Louis. “ _Lou,”_ he breathes out, burying his face in his arms.

“Can you get back on your hands, baby? Wanna fuck you proper,” Louis says, resting a hand on the curve of Harry’s bum.

Harry shuffles up immediately. He looks over his shoulder, meeting Louis’ dark eyes. He’s biting his lip, but he smirks when he catches Harry’s eyes, gripping his bum now. Harry’s so focused on his eyes he doesn’t realize Louis’ pushing inside. He closes his eyes, gasping as Louis fucks in slowly all the way up to the hilt. It feels so good, Louis completely sheathed inside him, pulsing heat and filling him up so good.

“Good, love?”              

Harry nods frantically, eyes flying open. “ _Yes,_ oh god yes, Louis. Please.”

“Please what?” Louis teases, running a hand down his back.

Harry whimpers, “Please fuck me.”

Louis pulls back and fucks into him _hard,_ making Harry yelp. He starts fucking him in earnest, thrusting in so hard the bed rocks a little beneath them. Harry’s mind is blank, only feeling the white-hot pleasure of Louis fucking into him over and over. He clenches around him, getting rewarded with a gasp from Louis as he thrusts.

            And suddenly Louis’ got his hands in his hair again, wrenching his head back. Fuck, it hurts where he’s pulling but it sends heat straight to his cock. He’s never been so hard in his life. “Fuck, baby,” Louis sighs out. “Wish you could see how good your lovely pink hair looks in my hand. ‘M so lucky I get fuck my princess like this, feels so fucking good around me.” Harry clenches around his in response, head tilted back so far he’s struggling to make words. Louis goes on, “Gonna have to tape us again soon, baby. Want you to see how hot your hair looks like this. Got it all tangled up around my fingers. Looks so good when I’m pulling it. Could take the prettiest photos of it.”

Harry whines, closing his eyes in pleasure. He wants to reach down to his cock, needs to come soon. As if reading him, Louis snaps his hips a little harder, punching a gasp out of him. “Wanna come, baby? Think you could come on my cock?”

He takes Harry’s whimper for a yes, pulling at his pink hair even harder and leaning over him to thrust even deeper inside him. Louis tugs his head to the side by his hair, biting at his neck and fucking him so hard and so deep. It’s Louis’ bite at the nape of his neck that sends him over the edge with a shout. Louis fucks him through it, coming when Harry sinks down to his forearms again.

Harry lets himself lay out on the bed after Louis pulls out, pressing his face into a pillow and catching his breath. He lets himself lay there for a minute before he rolls over onto his side to find his boy. Louis’ got his phone out horizontally, taking pictures of Harry. “Lou,” Harry admonishes him.

“What?” Louis grins. “This is a big moment. Gotta document how hot my sunshine is after getting fucked for the first time with his pink hair.”

Harry smiles, holding a hand out to him. “What about the Cloud?”

Louis rolls his eyes. “Baby, neither of us even know what the fuck a Cloud is.”

He hands Harry his phone and he scrolls through the pictures of him splayed out on the bed. He looks completely fucked, pink hair standing out brightly on the pillow. He still can’t believe it’s all really done. He flips back to the camera, switching it to selfie mode. Louis sits down on the bed, flopping down next to him to get in. They grin at the camera, shooting a few with their usual faces and making sure to get Harry’s new hair in the frame. Louis even holds a chunk up as moustache, to which Harry frowns. For the last one, Harry presses a kiss to Louis’ cheek and pinches his side, making his face erupt into a massive grin.

The last one is Harry’s favorite, because you can see the most pink and how lovely it blends into his hair, as well as Louis’ eye crinkles from the smile. He sends it off to the boys and Gemma and Lou, but Louis stops him before he sends it off to Anne. “Baby, you realize this is a very obvious post-sex selfie, right? I mean, I think she knows what we do, but still.”

Harry blushes, covering his mouth with a hand. “Ok, here, we’ll pull the covers up so it looks like we’re just hanging around in bed.”

Louis laughs but plays along, pulling the sheets up around them and up to their chins, so Harry’s hair is all out but they’re fully covered. It looks ridiculous, especially with how red Harry’s mouth is and how he’s glowing the way he always does after sex, but Louis lets him send it off. “Send it to me mum, too. She’ll laugh her arse off that we’re trying to be appropriate.”

Harry huffs, throwing Louis’ phone off to the side and cuddling into his chest. “Can we sleep now? Can wait to see what they say tomorrow.”

“Course, baby,” Louis whispers into his hair, holding him tight to his chest.

 

-

 

They wake up to a million emojis from the boys, compliments from Lou, a missed call from Anne, and Gemma knocking at their door and demanding they get fully clothed so she can see the final product in person.

Harry thinks it’s going to be a good day.

 

-

 

They’ve kept it under wraps the whole day, Harry keeping his curls tugged back and hood up the whole time they’re headed to the stadium. Some of the fans give him odd looks when they stop for a few pictures, but there seems to be no one whispering any rumors on Twitter or anything.

So they’re sat here five minutes before they have to drop-dead get on stage, since they’re already late. They’re all huddled up in a circle, waiting for Harry to gather his nerves. Gemma’s already at her spot at side stage, having sent him off with a kiss to his pink curls and a reassurance she’d kick anyone’s ass who said anything mean because Harry looks fabulous, in her opinion, and anyone who can’t see that is frankly blind.

Harry’s dressed up in his black jeans and low-cut black sheer button down. He’s even pulled out his gold boots and snapped a few different angles of them to Anne. Louis’ tucked under his right arm, Liam to his left and Niall right in front of him. He grins at him, “Hey, H. They’re gonna love it. Seriously, I’m pretty sure they’re gonna collectively lose their shit but they’re gonna fucking love it.”

Liam nods seriously. “I’m pretty sure you’re gonna crash Twitter with how much everyone loves it.”

Niall casts him a conspiratorial look, before pulling out his phone and raising it to take a selfie of the four of them. “Thought we needed a new one with pink Harry,” he shrugs, before kissing Harry’s head. Liam follows suit low on the other side, and Louis swerves around to kiss him towards the top of his head on Liam’s side. Harry bursts out laughing and pulls them all into a massive hug after Niall’s tucked his phone away.

“I love you guys,” he says, resting his head next to Niall’s.       

“We love you, too,” Louis says. “And we’re proud of you.”

Harry kisses him quickly on the lips before pulling back and raising his hand to do their usual chant. “Ready, boys?”

They run out faster than they’ve ever gone before, streaking out onto the stage like fireballs. As soon as Harry hits the stage, the screams fill his ears louder than they’ve ever been. He can only imagine how the first image of him looks up on the big screens behind them, pink hair whipping around him, but he’s never heard the fans be so loud before.

He’s never felt so good performing. He loves performing, he really loves it, but he’s never felt like his heart was beating out of his chest with so much happiness and pure adrenaline. He feels like he could fly around the stage tonight, twirl and sing brighter than he ever has, more comfortable than he’s ever been. He’s never felt so peaceful in his own skin, and he’s certainly never felt such a deep sense of pride in who he is. He knows, by know, Louis has taught him to be brave.

Niall turns to him after Clouds and asks, “So, Harold, I think we’ve all noticed you’ve got yourself a new hairstyle. Care to comment?”

Harry can’t stop his smile from splitting his face. “Yeah, yeah, I do. Uh, well it’s pink. And I love it very much a lot. It means a lot to me, and it makes me very happy. It makes me the happiest person in the world.”

Harry was wrong before. _This_ scream after he says that vibrates throughout his whole body, fills up every part of him, and resonates down to his core. He’s not sure if mass pandemonium can sound like elation, but it sounds like it to him.

 

 

He shouldn’t be surprised later after the concert when he sees that all of the boys have tweeted him with the same hashtag that’s trending all over the world:

@Real_Liam_Payne: _Couldn’t be happier to see you smile so big tonight, brother. Love you lots. You make us all very #ProudOfHarry_

@NiallOfficial: _Fuckin sick look, H! Anyone with a rude comment can take a hike, or me and @GemmaAnneStyles are gonna kick ya arse! #ProudOfHarry_

Louis’ is his favorite, though, and even after all these years it shocks him to see how much Louis doesn’t care about what management is going to say about this.

@Louis_Tomlinson: _Watching you grow over the years has been amazing. I'm so proud of everything you've become. You should be proud of yourself. #ProudOfHarry_

And if Harry holds Louis so tight tonight he feels like they’ve molded into one person and kisses him deep so he can give him every bit of love he can, it’s only because Louis deserves it.

 

**FOUR AND A HALF YEARS LATER**

“Harry, I’m loving this new color.” Ellen leans back in her chair, crossing her legs.

“Thank you,” Harry grins, reaching up to touch his lilac curls with one hand. “Lou just did it yesterday. I’m really into like, pastels and stuff lately.”

“Soft colors,” Louis chimes in. He pats Harry’s knee, leaving his hand there. “It was a little tricky to get the shade just right.”

Harry nods, “It was a pretty natural transition from the mint, though.”

“Well, it looks great. Louis, you’ve really gotten good at this hair stuff by now. I mean dip dye, braids, all kinds of looks. Have you ever thought of opening your own hair salon?” Ellen asks, grinning.

Louis laughs, leaning into Harry just a little more. “No, no. I’m a bit busy with the label and managing this one, of course. He’s a handful, you know.”

Harry frowns. “ _Hey.”_

Louis squeezes his knee. “Aw, baby, there’s nothing wrong with that. I like it that way.”

Harry blushes at Louis’ wink. He still gets flustered every time Louis teases him in public, still feels a rush of adrenaline that they’re free now and they can do this. Ellen is grinning at the two of them, hands crossed in her lap. “Hey,” she admonishes. “This is a family show.”

“Or is it?” Harry wiggles his eyebrows.

“Yes.” Ellen points a finger at him in warning. “Now, tell me about your upcoming album, Harry.”

Harry smiles, “Sure. It’s due in October, I think?” He glances at Louis, who nods.

“October 12th,” Louis says.

“Right. October 12th. And um, it’s cool, I think. I’d say it’s even like, weirder, than the last one. Less yelling. More, like, nature noises.”

“Nature noises?” Ellen asks, eyes wide.

Harry nods. “Yeah, there’s like some bird chirping and waves and stuff. I recorded one of the songs in like, this forest near Louis’ hometown actually. Louis thought I was crazy, but I think it sounds cool.”

“Are you going to make a photobook for it, like you did for the last one?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m choosing all the photos and stuff for it now. There’s a lot of Louis.”

“There’s ten of me,” Louis grins.           “Almost one for each song.”

Ellen laughs, “I wouldn’t expect any less. And you’re going on tour for the album, as well.”

Louis chimes in, “We’re doing some short legs in the US and UK, and then some shows around the world. Lots of cool, little theaters and stuff. To be honest, we kind of planned it like a big vacation.”

Harry bumps his shoulder. “Thanks, Mr. Manager.”

“And Louis, how are the rest of your acts doing? I heard you just signed a new girl band.”

Louis nods. “They’re doing well. I’ve been in the studio a lot with them, figuring out how to translate their sound to the studio so it stays as genuine as it is in person. I think they’re gonna do great. And everyone else is fantastic. We’re doing a lot of planning out tours and album releases, but I’m also doing my fair share of producing and writing, so. It’s a lot.”

Ellen sighs dramatically. “God, it must be so tough owning one of the most successful record labels today.” They both laugh, leaning into each other. Harry’s got a hand over his mouth. Ellen shakes her head. “You two. So, it’s been four years since the two of you came out. In celebration of that, I thought we could go over like your best moments together. We’ll only do recent ones, though. I know we don’t like talking about the closeting too much.”

Louis nods, smiling softly. “Thank you. We’ve talked about that enough over the years.”

Ellen smiles. “We’ll start with the moment that started to break your closet, though, as you’ve said before.” The screen behind them comes alive to an image from four and a half years ago. It’s the really famous one from the first concert Harry had debuted the colored hair at, the one Niall had taken right before they’d gone on stage. “You guys really broke the internet with this one,” Ellen says, “especially with the tweets you all sent out.” The screen transitions to Louis’ tweet, which is currently at four million retweets. “Harry, how does it feel looking back at this moment so much later?”

Harry smiles, pressed tight to Louis. “I still remember everything really like, vividly. Everything was different after that, because I was just fully committed to doing stuff that made me happy and not caring about people’s opinions. I mean, I’ve talked about my confidence issues before. I wasn’t really okay with the fact that I love doing stuff that people say is girly until then. Louis helped a lot with getting me to that point.”

“I was so proud,” Louis beams.

“I was proud of _you,”_ Harry says back.

Ellen laughs, “Now, moving on.” The screen transitions to a screen capture from the video they came out in. “And with this one, you guys pretty much overturned the entire world. There was chaos. Absolute chaos. Fighting in the streets and everything.”

Louis giggles. “God, it feels weird that it was so long ago.”

“Feels like a million years ago. I wasn’t even scared at that point.” Harry nods.

“Yeah, our new label gave us permission to tell the whole truth and it was just – it felt completely insane but also like the best thing I’ve ever done,” Louis says.

Ellen smiles. “Well, you guys also created pandemonium at your first event together.” The screen goes to their first appearance together at London Fashion Week. Harry had teal hair and wore some Gucci suit with a low cut button down and dark red nails, and Louis had on some posh YSL suit. “I hope you’re starting to notice a trend here, the whole chaos thing. People really lose their minds over you two.”

They laugh again. Louis says, “Well, I think we’re quite cute and you know, there’s been some drama down the road, so.”

“Right,” she says. The screen goes to a photo of Louis at the first charity event for his LGBT+/Gender Equality charity.

They’re both grinning widely. “That was pretty cool,” Louis says.

“ _Cool?”_ Ellen frowns. “It was great. Since its opening, it’s gone on to be a huge thing. You’ve helped a lot of people.”

Louis grins. “Well, it helped having my lovely boyfriend do some shoots for it.”

“Actually, that’s the next one.” The screen transitions to the first shoot Harry had done for the charity, featuring him beaming in a dress and full makeup, with soft pink nails and, of course, dip dye. The tagline for the campaign reads at the bottom: _Choose happiness._

“That’s one of my favorite photos of myself,” Harry says softly.

Louis grins. “That was a really important message for me. I truly believe that society had, and still has, obviously, some messed up ideas of what boys and girls are supposed to do, and what they’re supposed to be. Gender typing is harmful for both genders. Like I know this campaign was kind of controversial for a bit before people really got the message, but I think after rolling out the rest of the campaign and sharing all the stories we’d gathered, we were able to help some people.”

“I mean, it didn’t just help some. It helped a lot. The campaign really blew up globally,” Ellen says. “You got an insane amount of other male celebs to do it, too.”

Harry nods seriously. “It was incredible to see the positive response it got after the message really got out. We got a lot of people talking about how much it really jumpstarted important conversations like around where they live and stuff, and of course over the internet. Obviously, there were a lot of people that thought I was a freak and the whole thing was terrible, but I’ve kind of gotten over what those people think because they’re just wrong.”

“And obviously you guys have done a lot of work for homeless LGBT youth not only in the UK and US, but around the world.” She says. “Next we have the most recent One Direction album.”

The screen moves to their latest album with the boys. They’re all huddled together, Harry and Louis pressed into each other. Harry’s hair is a soft, delicate pink. Louis grins, “My favorite album we’ve released. We were finally able to be completely honest with it. It felt amazing.”

“And when are you guys finally gonna release another?”

Louis glances at Harry. “We can say, right?” Harry nods. Louis continues, “We’re actually talking about taking a big holiday after Harry’s tour and Niall’s latest project to work on one. Liam’s gotta figure out Sophia’s schedule, obviously, so she can come as well with the baby.”

 “And to plan other stuff, you know.” Harry nods, grinning softly.

Ellen takes them through Harry’s first album launch (the cover featured cyan curls and braids done by Louis), the time they got caught making out in an alley outside an industry party, Louis’ fourth Believe in Magic Ball, and their first appearance at the Grammys last year for Harry’s album and Louis’ work for other artists. When Harry had won for Best Alternative Album, he’d given some long, rambling, inspiring speech that made Louis cry while the camera was focused on him in the audience.

 “So,” Ellen says. The screen fades to black. “You two have accomplished a fair bit in these past few years. I’d say you’ve done pretty well for yourselves.”

Harry giggles, resting one hand on top of Louis’ and carefully keeping the other out of sight. He can’t take his eyes off Louis’ face. “Yeah, I’d say we’ve done pretty well.”

Louis pushes a bit of Harry’s hair away from his face, carefully brushing the lilac curls behind one ear. “I’m pretty satisfied.”

Harry wrinkles his nose. “Just satisfied?”

 “Love,” Louis laughs, bopping him softly on the nose. “I’m trying to keep it appropriate here.”

Ellen goes on, “So, what’s next for the two of you after the album release and tour? I mean, hopefully, we’ll get another album out of all four One Direction boys, but other than that.”

Louis shrugs. “I mean, we’ll just go wherever the wind takes us.”

 “Aw, come on,” Ellen laughs. “Give me something! Fashion shoots, duets, TV shows, weddings?” She asks the last one with a lilt to her voice and a raised eyebrow.

Harry flushes, taking Louis’ hand fully in his. “Um,” he mumbles.

 “Because Harry, don’t think I haven’t noticed you’re hiding your left hand,” Ellen says, leaning forward a bit.

Harry blushes even more, pressing his forehead to Louis’ shoulder and giggling. He knew Ellen was going to ask. Hell, they made sure she’d ask, but he still feels so unready now. Louis pets his head softly. “Well, I guess we can let the cat out of the bag, baby,” Louis says.

Harry raises his head and nods, pulling his hand out from where he’d been hiding it between the couch and himself. He giggles at the gasp from the audience. Ellen is positively beaming, taking Harry’s hand gently to get a look at the ring. “Louis, you did a great job here,” she says. “Would you guys get a look at this? Whole thing’s almost taking up his entire hand.”

Louis laughs, pressed tight to Harry’s side. “Had to give my baby the best.”

 “Lou,” Harry sighs, cheeks still hot from the attention.

 “When’s the date? You know I’ll have to clear my schedule. I mean, I can’t just drop everything to be the maid of honor, you know,” Ellen jokes, letting go of his hand and leaning back.

 “We’ll send you the invite, of course,” Louis laughs.

She asks, “Excited to get married?”

 “Yeah, yeah,” Louis says. “I’d say it’s about time. I mean, I’ve known he’s the one since I was eighteen. We’ve just had a crazy time with all the stuff we’ve done, so.”

Harry smiles. “He could have proposed when I was sixteen and I’d have been over the moon, so I’d definitely say we’re pretty excited. I mean,” he pauses, staring at Louis. “He’s the light of all of my lives, I knew I was gonna spend forever with him the moment we met. That’s a lyric, by the way. Spoiler alert.”

Louis grins back, and really, it’s true. Harry’s been gone for Louis for what feels like his whole life. He feels so blessed to have this beautiful, incredible man to call his own, to hold every night and every day. He twirls the engagement ring around his finger, already thinking of the family they’re going to build after the wedding. They’d even discussed baby names the other day. He knows he and Louis are soulmates, has known for ages, and he still has no idea how he got the best man in the entire world to be his. He’s so smart, fiercely loyal and hilarious and everything Harry could ever want. And of course, there’s no one else Harry would trust to do his dip dye every time.

 


End file.
